Real deal with Retail!

NOT BE A DEBBIE DOWNER OR A NEGATIVE NANCY, but Retail is the hardest job in the world! You have to try to relate to hundreds of clients you come in contact with. It is mentally and physically exhausting. Long gone are the free weekends to party and relax at the beach. No more making plans with friends to go out because your schedule is not fixed. It will consume all your energy. You will bend over and do back flips and someone will still leave unhappy from the store.

However to those aspiring makeup artists, I say yes retail can be your friend because you will learn so much about the beauty industry. I came into to Sephora not having any knowledge at all! I was a Mary Kay consultant for 3 weeks and then quit when I was getting all these orders and no cash to back it up. I literally dropped my application to every Sephora I came in contact with. No one gave me a chance....until Jennifer Negron, a Store Director, looked at my application and said "Come in for an interview next week." I was ecstatic! When the interview day came, I was up against ten other people who wanted the job. Now, I have a quiet personality at times and do not like to be the center of attention, but this day I said I have to stand out! I answered every question first and was a star and I got hired. That was my shot into makeup. Now this is not the only retail route you can take. You can freelance with a makeup company and get your feet wet. Freelancing somethings requires more experience and can be intimating due to goals. Starting off with a company and then freelancing is also great. There is also the great option of starting your own makeup brand or freelancing company like we did with Glam Box.

It can be rewarding helping women on a daily basis look their best. In addition, you will get a chance to work with different eye shapes, face shapes, skin types, and skin tones! This can be a career path for some or just a hobby. There is money to be made in this industry. The lowest & highest income in retail for Makeup Artists (sales not management) $10-$25 an hr (keep in mind the commission jobs will pay more of the $25 dollars an hr).

Artist be wary of:
1. If you have worked for a company for a few years and have not gotten any promotion or there is no sign of growth...GET OUT!
2. If they call you a star sales associate, but come raise time you get an insignificant amount like a twenty cents...Get your running shoes!
3. If you always feel down going into your job and never happpy.....ever...Okay you know what I am going to say.
4. If you are not learning or challenging yourself on a daily basis, choose another career choice!

To clients shopping at these places:
1. Please when stepping into a cosmetics place, do not expect the sales associate to know every ingredient and price of 4,000 + products.
2. If you ask an artists at a retail store, "Hey I like the shadows you have on, what are they?" Do not expect a honest answer-if they are promoting Dior that day then Dior is what they will tell you they have on.
3. If a store is swamped with people, do not complaint you cannot get someone to help you. And also if someone is with another client,do not jump in and ask for help.
4. Always ask the sales person why they are showing the brand they are showing you....they can be just promoting that line that day, even if that product is the best fit for your needs.

Let me know you would ever consider this field of work?